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Countryside (Scotland) Act 1981

Consolidated Text As Enacted Cited in Related
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Year1981


Countryside (Scotland)Act 1981

1981 CHAPTER 44

An Act to make further provision for the better enjoyment of the Scottish countryside, and as respects the Countryside Commission for Scotland; to amend the Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967; and for connected purposes.

[27 July 1981]

Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

S-1 Grants and loans.

1 Grants and loans.

1. For section 7 of the Act of 1967 (grants and loans to persons other than public bodies) there shall be substituted—

S-7 ‘Grants and loans.

7 ‘Grants and loans.

(1) In accordance with arrangements approved by the Secretary of State and the Treasury, the Commission shall have power to make grants, loans (or both) to any person, including a public body, in respect of expenditure incurred by him in doing anything which in the opinion of the Commission is conducive to the attainment of any of the purposes of this Act.

(2) Grants or loans made in terms of subsection (1) above local authorities shall be made only in respect of expenditure incurred by those authorities in relation to the countryside in or in connection with—

(a ) the exercise of their powers under this Act;

(b ) the exercise of their powers under section 24 of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 (which relates to the provision of caravan sites by local authorities);

(c ) the exercise of their powers under section 2 (except subsection (1)(b)) of the Local Government (Development and Finance) (Scotland) Act 1964 (which empowers local authorities to develop land in certain circumstances);

(d ) the payment of compensation under section 159, or by virtue of section 163, of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 (which respectively relate to compensation in respect of the control of the use of land and to tree preservation orders);

(e ) the exercise of their powers of acquiring land, whether by agreement or compulsorily, under or by virtue of any of the enactments referred to in the preceding paragraphs of this subsection.

(3) On making a grant or a loan under this section the Commission may impose conditions including (in the case of a grant) conditions for repayment in specified circumstances.

(4) The exercise of the Commission's power under this section shall be subject to any directions given to them by the Secretary of State.’.

S-2 Extension of definition of ‘open country’.

2 Extension of definition of ‘open country’.

2. In subsection 10(2) of the Act of 1967 (which defines ‘open country’) for the words after ‘adjacent thereto’ there shall be substituted the following words—

‘and any waterway; and in this section ‘waterway’ and ‘foreshore’ shall include any bank, barrier, dune, beach, flat or other land adjacent to the waterway or foreshore.’.

S-3 Further provision in relation to access agreements.

3 Further provision in relation to access agreements.

(1) At the end of section 13 of the Act of 1967 (which relates to access agreements) there shall be added the following subsection—

(11) Payments made under subsection (2) above in consideration of the making of the agreement shall be made on the basis of an assessment of the capital value of the land arrived at in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 4 to this Act.’.

(2) After Schedule 3 to the Act of 1967 there shall be inserted the following Schedule—

‘Schedule 4

Provisions as to the Calculation for Fixing Consideration in Respect of the Making of Access Agreements .

(1) The district valuer shall value the land covered by the access agreement, as at the first day of the twelve month period to which the consideration will relate, assuming—

(a ) a sale on the open market by a willing seller; and

(b ) that the use of the land is unfettered by the access agreement.

(2) The planning authority shall, before or as soon as possible after the coming into operation of the access agreement, agree with the owner of the interest in the land what proportion of the figure set by the district valuer should be paid by the planning authority in respect of each twelve month period.

(3) The first twelve month period shall begin on the day on which the public is first given access to the land under the agreement.’.

S-4 Powers of Secretary of State in relation to acquisition of land for public access.

4 Powers of Secretary of State in relation to acquisition of land for public access.

4. In section 24 of the Act of 1967 (which relates to the acquisition by planning authorities of land for public access), in subsection (1), for the words ‘or acquire the land compulsorily.’ there shall be substituted the words ‘or, with the consent of the Secretary of State, acquire the land compulsorily: provided that the authority may not acquire the land compulsorily unless it is impracticable to obtain such access by an access agreement or an access order.’.

S-5 Relaxation of control by Secretary of State.

5 Relaxation of control by Secretary of State.

5. After section 35 of the Act of 1967 (which relates to the diversion of public paths) there shall be added the following section—

S-35A

35A ‘Relaxation of controls.

(1) Notwithstanding the terms of sections 31(1), 34(1) and 35(1) of this Act, a planning authority shall not submit to the Secretary of State for his approval and confirmation any public path creation order, public path extinguishment order or public path diversion order to which no objections have been made, or the objections to which have been withdrawn.

(2) Part II of Schedule 3 to this Act shall apply to orders of the kind referred to in subsection (1) above as it applies to other orders made under any of the said sections 31, 34 or 35.’.

S-6 Fines.

6 Fines.

6. In sections 43, 44, 60 and 75 of the Act of 1967 (which set out, inter alia, the penalties for offences under these sections) the maximum fines to which a person shall be liable on summary conviction shall be increased as follows—

a ) in section 43(4) (a ) for ‘50’ there shall be substituted ‘200’
b ) in section 43(4) (b ) for ‘10’ there shall be substituted ‘50’
c ) in section 43(4) (c ) for ‘50’ there shall be substituted ‘200’;
d ) in section 44(2) for ‘50’ there shall be substituted ‘200’;
e ) in section 60(6) for ‘20’ there shall be substituted ‘50’;
f ) in section 75(6) for ‘20’ there shall be substituted ‘200’.
S-7 Amendment of certain references to local authorities, etc.

7 Amendment of certain references to local authorities, etc.

7. In section 46 of the Act of 1967 (which imposes duties and confers powers on all planning authorities in respect of the protection and maintenance of public rights of way)—

a ) in subsection (2), for the words ‘Any local authority or’ there shall be substituted the word ‘A’; and
b ) at the end there shall be added the following subsection—

(5) The references in subsections (1) to (3) above to planning authorities shall be construed as references to planning authorities which carry out district planning functions; and in this subsection ‘district planning functions’ has the same meaning as in Part IX of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 .’.

S-8 Establishment of regional parks.

8 Establishment of regional parks.

8. After section 48 of the Act of 1967 there shall be inserted the following section—

S-48A

48A ‘Regional parks.

(1) A regional park is an extensive area of land, part of which is devoted to the recreational needs of the public.

(2) Regional councils shall have power—

(a ) by order to designate lands within their region as regional parks, and

(b ) to manage as a single administrative unit any parts of any such park which are under the control of the council,

and where it is appropriate that lands extending into more than one region should be designated as a regional park the regional councils concerned may jointly exercise the powers conferred by this subsection.

(3) Subject to subsection (4)(c ) below, an order under subsection (2)(a ) above shall not take effect until it is confirmed by the Secretary of State, who may confirm such order either without modification or subject to such modifications as he considers expedient.

(4) The Secretary of State shall by regulations made by statutory instrument prescribe the procedure for making orders under subsection (2)(a ) above and the form of such orders; and (without prejudice to the generality of this subsection) the regulations shall make provision as follows:—

(a ) that before an order under subsection (2)(a ) above is submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation, notice of the terms of the order shall be given to the owners, lessees and occupiers of land within the area designated in the order, and to such other persons, if any, as may be specified in the regulations;

(b ) that objections and representations with respect to the order, if duly made in accordance with the regulations, shall be considered by the Secretary of State before he confirms the order;

(c ) that if no objections or representations are made in respect of any order, or if any objections or representations made are withdrawn, the order shall not be submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation, but shall be confirmed without modification as an unopposed order by the council or councils who made it; and

(d ) that copies of confirmed orders shall be served on such persons as may be specified in the regulations.

(5) Any statutory instrument made in terms of subsection (4) above shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(6) Where a planning application is made in relation to lands which fall within an area designated as a regional park, the planning authority shall have...

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